Counter-Strike

Natus Vincere have reached the final of the IEM VI Global Challenge Kiev following two straight 16:11 wins over Fnatic , on inferno and tuscan. The Ukrainians were the team coming out on top in all the key clutch round situations and set the pace with solid leads at the half of both maps.

The semi-final match had rightfully been billed as the hot ticket for this playoff round, being that fnatic, with two different lineups, famously beat Na`Vi in semi-finals in this venue at the IEM V European Championship and BEAT IT Russia in 2011. The deciding map, train, would even have been a repeat of both previous series. Instead Na`Vi moved past in two to await SK or M5 in the final.

Zeus showed off some key rounds wins for the Ukrainian team, harkening back to the days when he was an individual player only for Virtus.pro. For fnatic they lacked significant contributions from AWPer Friis, who has been the big X-factor for the team in their best runs since acquiring him from mTw.